


Time for Answers

by bansheequeen (queenbanshee), xtremeroswellian



Series: Moving Targets [18]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Chloe is over this shit, F/M, Mia adores him too, Oliver adores Mia, Shades of gray Tess Mercer, anonymous tips, serious conversations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:53:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24239104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbanshee/pseuds/bansheequeen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Summary: Tired of waiting around, Chloe demands some answers from the only source she can think of, and this time, she actually gets some.
Relationships: Oliver Queen & Mia Dearden, Oliver Queen/Chloe Sullivan
Series: Moving Targets [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748179
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Headquarters -- Star City -- May 3, 2011**

Oliver felt like he hadn't been out of bed in months. And since Chloe had slipped out of bed earlier while he was still asleep--he assumed to research something--he smirked a little and carefully swung his legs over one side of the mattress and prepared to stand up. His stomach throbbed painfully and just the act of sitting up made him a bit dizzy, but he was determined. Once the dizziness passed, he drew in a breath and stood up slowly. He shut his eyes for a moment, letting his feet balance his body out. Once he was sure he was steady, he opened his eyes once more, slowly making his way toward the bathroom.

Mia had been just walking past the bedroom when she saw the light was on, she made a face and stopped by the door, when she didn't hear any weird noises, she knocked quietly. It was almost noon and she hadn't seen either one of them yet so she wanted to make sure Ollie was okay.

He froze in the middle of the floor, looking back toward the bed and wondering if he could make it back without getting caught being up and around. "Who is it?" he called, torn between his desire to take an actual shower and not wanting to get yelled at.

"It's me," Mia called, frowning.

Oliver paused at that. "Oh. Come on in."

She opened the door carefully and frowned when she saw him standing in the middle of the room, "what are you doing up?"

"I was...going to take a shower," he admitted.

"Oh," she cocked her head a little and shrugged, "I can come back later."

"It's okay. I can wait." He motioned toward the chair beside the bed as he slowly moved to sit back down once more.

Mia hesitated for a second then walked over to the chair, "I just wanted to check in on you, see how you're doing," she admitted.

Oliver sat down on the edge of the bed, watching her and nodding a little. They hadn't really talked much since before he'd been shot. She'd been around a lot--especially when he'd been in the hospital--but mostly she'd just hovered nearby without saying much. Which, for Mia, was pretty unusual. "I'm doing better," he said quietly. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," she told him, raising her eyebrows, "but I wasn't the one who got shot."

He nodded a little once more. "True. But it's been a long few days."

"Yeah, no kidding," she agreed and raised her eyebrows a little more.

Oliver gazed at her intently. "So what's going on up there?" He tapped his temple lightly.

"You expect me to think?" She asked, smirking a little.

He arched an eyebrow at her.

Mia sighed softly and shook her head a little. "Nothing much, I guess..." she said with a shrug, not really wanting to tell him how freaked out she was.

"You expect me to let you get by with that?" He smirked a little.

"... Yeah?" She tried, pursing her lips tightly.

"Think again," he responded.

"Well..." she sighed and leaned back against her chair, trying to buy herself some time, "I've been too busy preparing for finals to really think about anything else."

"Good try," he acknowledged with a small smile, leaning back against the headboard of the bed. "Next."

Mia looked at him for a moment then shifted on the chair, crossing her legs on top of it and taking her time adjusting to the position, her hands on her lap as she tried to think of something else then she just shrugged and looked down at her hands, she really didn't know what else to tell him.

"Mia." His voice was soft. "It's okay."

She raised her eyes to look at him and gave him a look.

"It is," he said, shaking his head.

"How can you even say that?" She asked, frowning hard. "You know it's a lie!"

"I'm fine, Mia. I'm going to make a full recovery," he said quietly, watching her.

" _This_ time." She said firmly, glaring at him. 

_There we go_ , he thought, nodding a little at her. "You and Chloe and I don't recover as fast from things as the others."

"The difference is that Chloe and I don't nearly get killed every other week," Mia told him, glaring harder as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"Hey, it's hardly been every other week," he said, trying for a light tone.

But Mia's mood was anything _but_ light. "Like hell it isn't," she leaned forward in her chair but kept her arms around herself, "there was that explosion and then you were kidnapped and now you got _shot_. That's three times recently, Ollie!"

Oliver gazed at her. "Mia, I'm not _trying_ to get myself killed. What we do...the people we wind up going up against...it's dangerous. _They're_ dangerous. I wish I could tell you that it won't always be like this, but we both know I'd be lying."

" _He_ is dangerous," Mia corrected him, "it's all him, and if I ever find him, I will kill him." She told him, her jaw tight. She meant every world. She had never wanted to kill someone as much as she wanted to kill Lex Luthor, not even her dad, not even Rick when he started making her pay him for getting her away from her dad by working the streets.

"No," he said very softly. "You won't. Because you're not a murderer, Mia. You're a good person. We _will_ get Lex. But not by sinking to his level."

"It's not murder if you're doing everyone a favor." She told him, her expression serious.

"And that's exactly what I tried to tell myself. But at the end of the day, after everyone was gone and I was alone? All I wanted was to take it back," he informed her with every bit of seriousness she expressed. "To not have that weighing on my conscience." He shook his head a little. "When you make a choice like that, it leaves a mark on you that never goes away. And Lex Luthor isn't worth that. That much I know for sure."

"But it's what he _deserves_." Mia told him, her jaw set as she finally dropped her arms and legs, moving to sit on the edge of her seat, "it's not _just_ you he's hurting, Chloe got shot too and AC and then all those people he was testing on."

"It is what he deserves," he said quietly. "But it's not for us to decide who should live or die." His voice grew even softer. "That's not what this group is about."

"It's about helping people and protecting them," she told him, watching him, "how are we supposed to do that if men like him don't pay like they should?"

"We have a plan," Oliver told her gently. "Thanks to our new Bat friend in Gotham, there's already a special place prepared for Lex when we catch him."

"What if that doesn't work?" She demanded, not convinced that any plan besides a bullet through the head, or several, would work.

"Then we consider other options," he answered, keeping his gaze on her.

Mia sighed deeply and shook her head, looking back down on her lap, "I just want him gone."

"I know," he said softly, reaching his hand out and touching her arm.

"What are we gonna do if we can't find him?" She asked him quietly, looking up at him, doing her best not to let the fear she felt show.

Oliver paused at that, considering. "He won't hide forever." That much, he was sure about. "The guy has an ego the size of New York City. Eventually he'll crawl out of the woodwork and let the rest of the world know he's alive. And when he does, if we haven't gotten him before that time, we'll get him then."

"What is gonna happen when we do get him?" Mia asked, watching him carefully.

He was silent for a moment. "J'onn's going to alter some of his memories...and he's going to be locked away in Arkham."

At that, Mia stopped, frowning hard and staring at him, "alter them... how?"

"It's one of his abilities," he said softly. "It's how we've managed to stay off the grid in a lot of situations."

"I know _that_ ," Mia told him, sighing, "Chloe told me about it after that guy tried to brainwash you," she said with a sigh, "but what is J'onn gonna change his memory to?"

"That I don't know. I don't know if he'll wipe us all from Lex's memories or...what," he admitted.

"Well, we should know that, don't you think? In case he escapes and comes after you again?" Mia pointed out, even less pleased by the plan now that Oliver didn't seem to have all the details worked out.

He nodded a little. "You're right, we should. We should contact J'onn soon and see what he has in mind."

"I wanna be there when you talk to him about it," she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest again.

A tiny smile touched his lips. "Deal," he said without hesitation, gazing at her.

Mia raised her eyebrows a little, surprised he'd agreed to it, but didn't question, she just nodded and shrugged. "Okay."

Oliver relaxed a little. "And I don't say this enough, but...I love you, Kid."

She paused and looked over at him, nodding, "I love you too," she pursed her lips together, "which is why you better not die on me."

"I'll do my best." He smiled softly. "Long as you promise to do the same."

"Yeah," Mia nodded, "I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

"Very glad to hear it."

She sighed a little and nodded, leaning back against her chair, quiet for a long moment then looking at Oliver, "where is Chloe? She's been glued to your side since you got hurt."

He paused at that, cocking his head at her. "She wasn't researching in the computer lab?"

Mia shrugged and shook her head, "haven't seen her all day."

A worried frown touched his lips. "Mia? Have you seen _Bart_ today?"

Raising her eyebrows, Mia frowned and shook her head, now that she thought about it, the house had been oddly quiet today and that meant Bart was definitely not around. "... No?"

"Oh, hell." Oliver sat up, wincing a little and pressing a hand to his stomach.

Mia winced too and stood up, "what? You think he took her somewhere?"

"Yeah. To Kansas," he said grimly.

"Why would he do that?" Mia frowned, placing a hand on his shoulder, "maybe they just went to get groceries or something."

He gazed at her. "Because Chloe thinks Tess is our informant. And the informant is the one who sent us into 33.1."

Mia paused, blinking and staring at him for a moment, "oh, I'll go get you your phone."

"Thanks."


	2. Chapter 2

**Headquarters -- Star City -- May 3, 2011**

Chloe took a deep breath and glanced back at where Bart stood at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the main entrance of the mansion and nodded a little at him then knocked on the door, waiting for one of Tess’ many minions to show up and open it, “I’m here to see Tess Mercer.” 

The man glared down at Chloe, “and you are?” 

“Chloe Sullivan,” she said firmly, “tell her this is about Oliver Queen.” Chloe wasn’t surprised that the man shut the door on her face and waited.

Moments later, he opened the door again, “you can wait for her in the study,” the man informed her. 

She made her way up the familiar stairs and into the even more familiar room, reaching in her purse and setting her phone on silent before taking a seat by the fireplace, facing the door and waited.

A few moments later, Tess strolled into the room, her expression neutral as she looked over to where Chloe was sitting. “I’d say this was a nice surprise, but we both know better. What do you want?” 

Chloe didn’t bother standing up, that would have meant respect and she didn’t have an ounce of it for the woman standing in front of her right at that moment, “you know why I’m here.” Chloe said blankly.

Tess arched an eyebrow. “I was told it had something to do with Oliver,” she said, folding her arms across her chest. 

“You almost got him killed with your last stunt, Tess,” this time, she did stand up, even if the woman was much taller than her, she didn’t want her to feel like she had the upper hand in this.

She paused. “What stunt would that be, Chloe?” 

“Stop playing your games,” Chloe demanded, taking a step closer, “why are you sending me those messages, what the hell do you want?”

Tess looked at her blankly. “What the hell are you talking about, Chloe?” She shook her head.

“The text messages, Tess!” Chloe said finally, pulling her phone from her purse and looking down, reading it. “ ‘33.1 is back. Nevada.’ Sounds familiar?”

“No,” she said flatly, looking very unimpressed. “Not in the least, actually. Now, if you don’t mind, I have things to do.” 

“I do mind,” Chloe said angrily, “because in the past few months, Oliver has been through hell and it’s all because of _you_ and Lex and I’m not leaving until I have some answers because I’ve had enough of this cat and mouse games, I’m tired of explosions and bullets and your little friend Maxwell Lord trying to use him to find you on top of it.” 

Chloe paused for a second, “and you know what we did? We _protected_ you so how about you return the courtesy for a change!?”

Tess stared at her for a long moment, her lips pursed. “I’m not your informant. I don’t know where Lex is at the moment. I haven’t seen or heard from him since I warned Oliver to be careful and that was months ago. And you don’t have to worry about Maxwell Lord anymore.” She moved over to the bar and poured herself a glass of wine. “He’s been taken care of.” 

“Well so you finally did something useful,” Chloe told her, crossing her arms over her chest, “of course it was only to cover your own ass, like taking care of Checkmate.” She said firmly, stepping toward Tess.

Tess took a sip of her drink but didn’t turn around. “Zod is the one who took care of Checkmate. Not me.” 

“Zod, another one of your messes that _we_ had to clean up.” Chloe pointed out, eyes narrowing.

She turned around to face Chloe once more, setting her glass down. “Isn’t that what the heroes do? Fix the messes the rest of us make?” She raised an eyebrow at her. 

“No,” She told her, eyes narrowing more, “we protect people, but we are not responsible for your mistakes, and next time, I can assure you you will not be this lucky.” 

“Yes, because having my face half burned off and actually _dying_ is what I consider lucky,” Tess responded wryly.

“I would never wish that on anyone,” Chloe told her evenly, her jaw tight, “but you brought it upon yourself.” She took a step closer, her eyes narrowing and her voice was lower when she spoke again, “and you are doing it again.”

At that, Tess’ eyes narrowed as well, and she moved toward Chloe. “Don’t threaten me, Chloe.” Her voice was very quiet. “And don’t presume you have _any_ idea what I’m doing.” 

“I don’t have to threaten you, Tess,” a slow smirk appeared on her lips and she stepped even closer, “we both know how Lex used you last time and we both know he brought you back for his own purposes.”

A smirk quirked Tess’ lips, as well. “At least you’ve finally caught up with the rest of us.” 

“Apparently _you_ haven’t,” Chloe told her, “you have _one_ shot of getting out of this.”

This she had to hear. “And what shot is that?” She folded her arms once more.

“You tell us what you know,” Chloe said tightly, as much as she hated the idea of getting any kind of help from Tess, this wasn’t about her or Tess, it was about getting rid of Lex to keep Ollie _safe_ , “and we’ll take care of the rest.”

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, Chloe, but I already told you what little I know about Lex,” she responded. 

“Why are you doing this?” Chloe demanded, sighing in frustration, “why are you protecting him?”

Her jaw tightened and she stepped closer to the blond. “Listen very carefully. You _don’t_ know everything. Ask yourself a question, Chloe. And be honest about it. If it ever came down to a choice between saving Clark or saving Oliver, who would _you_ pick?” 

Chloe blinked and frowned, staring at Tess as if she had just lost her mind, “ _Clark_ has absolutely nothing to do with this Tess, and for all we know, he’s _gone_ , now answer my question!”

“Answer mine,” she said simply.

“Not until you explain the point of your question.” Chloe demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Then you’re wasting your time.” She headed for her desk. 

Chloe glared at Tess harder, her arms tightening across her chest as she did, considering if she should answer or not. She didn’t have anything to lose, and as much as she hated feeling like she was giving in to the other woman’s demands, she didn’t want to miss an opportunity of maybe getting something that could help them.

“Oliver,” she said finally, through clenched teeth. 

Tess turned to look at her once more, meeting her eyes. And this time her gaze was intense. “Exactly. Now you have your answer and I have mine.” Her jaw tensed. “Now get the hell out of my house.” 

Her jaw clenched too and Chloe dropped her arms, turning her hands into fits, “this isn’t over, Tess, you might not want to give me any answers now, but you will regret this.” Without another word, she turned around and shoved the door out of the way, pausing and turning around, “and if he gets hurt again, I won’t be knocking next time I come by.”

Tess watched as she headed toward the exit of the study. “Chloe.” 

She didn’t bother responding, just made her way out of the study, down the stairs and out of the mansion, not waiting for anyone to open the door for her.

* * * 

**Headquarters -- Star City -- May 3, 2011**

Oliver paced the length of the kitchen floor, phone pressed to his ear. “Chloe, this is the fifth message I’ve left you. I’m not even kidding. Call me _back_.” 

Not even a full second later, Chloe entered the house, her phone still on silent mode inside her purse, she held her breath a little and prepared to go up the stairs, but paused when she caught him walking in the kitchen out of the corner of her eyes. _Walking_ being the keyword.

“Oliver?” She said immediately, starting toward him, “what are you doing out of bed?”

“Where have you been?” he responded, turning to face her, lowering the phone from his ear. 

Chloe frowned and gave him a look, walking over to him and lifting his shirt to check on his stitches, “it’s bad enough that you’re walking, you had to come downstairs? Your stitches could have burst, Oliver!”

He stared at her. “I tried calling you _five_ times, Chloe.” 

“C’mon,” she placed a hand on his back, urging him out of the kitchen, “upstairs.”

“Not until we talk,” he said stubbornly.

“No,” she said just as stubbornly, looking up at him and holding his gaze, “I will answer all your questions once you are laying back down.”

Oliver’s jaw tightened a little as he stared at her intently. 

“Come _on_ , Oliver. You got hurt enough already.” Her voice was quieter this time.

He sighed heavily and moved wordlessly past her and toward the stairs. 

Chloe sighed too and rubbed her hands over her face then followed him up the stairs, glancing at Bart, who was standing not far from the kitchen door and mouthing ‘thanks again,’ before following Oliver up the stairs. She knew Bart was nervous about Oliver being mad at him for helping her, but she was going to make sure that didn’t happen.

“What were you thinking, Chloe?” he asked, shaking his head as he moved over to sit down on the bed. “Going after Tess?” 

She blinked once, raising her eyebrows slightly, but shook her head, she shouldn’t be surprised that Oliver knew _exactly_ how she worked. “I wanted answers, Ollie.” She admitted, closing the bedroom door and adjusting his pillows, “I want to end this.”

He sighed softly, raking a hand through his hair and laying back against the pillows, gazing at her intently. “And did you find the answers you were looking for?” 

“What do you think?” She said with a sigh, frustrated and shaking her head.

“That she’s not our informant,” he said quietly.

“I still don’t believe that,” Chloe admitted, “but who else could it be? There is no one that knows about us and about Lex as much as she does, Ollie.”

He sighed softly. “I don’t know. But my gut tells me it’s not her.” He watched her for a moment. “Are you all right?” 

“Yeah, oddly enough we both made it out of this one without a scratch,” Chloe told him quietly, moving to sit down on the edge of the bed.

“Good.” Oliver reached out and took her hand. 

Chloe took his hand and looked down at it quietly, letting out a deep breath and squeezing it gently, “she’s protecting him.”

“She said that?” 

“No,” she took a deep breath, “but she got nervous, altered, more than Tess normally does, just before she told me to leave. I think she’s doing it because she needs him for something.”

His eyebrows furrowed a little. “You think she’s using him,” he murmured. “But for what reason?” 

“I don’t know...” she admitted, sighing softly, her shoulders dropping a little. “And she said some weird things...”

“What kind of weird things?” 

“Well she was asking me if it came down between saving you and saving Clark, which one I would...” and then Chloe stopped, Tess’ words finally clicking in her head and she blinked a few times, standing up and staring at Oliver, “she thinks she’s protecting you.”

He blinked at that, too, and frowned. “What? What are you talking about?” 

Chloe pursed her lips together, “she asked me which one of you I would save; you, who has been there for me and has helped me, or Clark, who has walked out on me more times than I care to remember and has hurt me. Like Lex did to her.” Chloe paused and held his gaze, “I said I would choose to save you, and she said then I had my answer.”

Oliver shook his head a little. “I’m not sure I follow, Chloe,” he admitted. “I haven’t exactly been great to Tess the last...entire time we’ve known each other.” 

“You broke her heart,” Chloe pointed out, looking down at him, “you didn’t turn her into your own personal spying device. You didn’t _use_ her like he did.”

He paused. “I’m still not sure that means she’s protecting me. I’m just the lesser of two evils.” 

“Her specific question was which one of you would I save.” Chloe told him, “she would save you over Lex.” She told him then sighed, rolling her eyes, “because we were at the mansion and Lex is, no doubt, watching her every move, how could I have been so stupid!?”

“Chloe.” He reached out and caught her hand. “You’re not stupid. She’s not an easy person to read.” 

“Nevermind that,” Chloe chewed on her bottom lip, “if she’s worried Lex is watching her, that means that wherever he is, he’s tapping into the mansion feed and we might be able to track him down via the signal.”

“Let’s get Vic on it,” he suggested, watching her intently.

“Don’t move,” she warned him, leaning down and pressing her lips to his forehead, “I’ll be right back.” 

“Are you going to punish me if I move?” His voice was light, teasing. 

“You wish,” she smirked at him before turning around and opening the door and disappearing down the hall.

He grinned, watching her go. 

She wasn’t wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

**Headquarters, Star City -- May 5, 2011**

A day and a half later and they still had no new leads on Lex Luthor or his whereabouts. And if he'd somehow tapped into the security feed at the mansion, he'd done so in such a way that neither Chloe nor Vic could locate it.

Oliver laid in bed, not any happier to be there than he had been two days before, a deep frown on his face. The team was busy searching for any signs of Lex and he was _laying on his ass._ That didn't sit well with him. At all.

But between Chloe and Mia, he knew his chances of getting up and moving around or doing anything that could be considered _useful_ were basically zero. Apparently his venture out of bed and down the stairs a couple days before had caused the two of them to put their heads together and now one of them was by his side constantly. And if they weren't, one of the other team members was.

He sighed, raking a hand through his hair as he gave AC, his current babysitter, a dirty look. "Man, we didn't do this to you when _you_ got shot," he said with frustration. 

"That's because I was good and didn't need to be looked after every minute." AC smirked. "Seriously, Ollie. You need to rest." 

Oliver rolled his eyes. "No, I need to be working and being useful."

"No offense dude, but you're not gonna be very useful if you're stopping and wincing and holding your side every few steps, we need you healed." AC pointed out, leaning back on his chair.

He sighed again. "This sucks."

"Yeah, I know," he lifted his hands over against the back of his head and leaned back against them, "but just a few more days and you should be good to go, right?"

Oliver tried to smile, but didn't quite manage it. "Unfortunately Emil tells me it'll take longer for me to recover than it did you."

Ac frowned a little and nodded, "well, I only got shot in the arm, man, you got a bullet in your stomach, it would be longer."

"Plus there's that other thing," he responded with a shrug.

"You're not a meta," AC said finally, then shrugged, "so maybe it will take you a while longer, but you're still gonna heal and get back out there with us."

Oliver nodded a little. "Yeah, I am," he said quietly.

"At least you don't have to stay in bed by yourself," AC smirked at him and raised his eyebrows, giving him a knowing look.

He rolled his eyes at that. "Like _you_ did?"

"Nah," he shrugged again, not at all bothered by the look Oliver was giving him, "just saying, that makes it better, right?"

He smiled a little. "Yeah, it does," he agreed.

"So just lay back, relax and enjoy the attention, dude." AC told him, smirking.

"It's not the attention part that I mind. It's the rest of it," Oliver responded.

"I know dude," he agreed, "but you gotta focus on the good or you're gonna go crazy."

"Where are Chloe and Mia anyway?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know, they were talking in the kitchen last time I checked," AC told him with a shrug, "something about Mia's graduation."

Oliver sighed and laid his head back against the pillows.

"It's been like an hour, dude, they will come check on you soon." He assured him and not even a second later, Chloe showed up in the room.

"Hey," she smiled softly at AC then at Ollie, carrying a tray toward him, "hungry?"

His eyes brightened a little when he spotted her. "Starving."

Chloe smiled a little more at him and set the tray over his lap, "and I didn't even attempt cooking for you so you don't have to worry about food poisoning."

"Oh good. Throwing up while recovering from a gunshot wound to the stomach doesn't sound pleasant." He smirked a little, patting the bed beside him.

"Well, since there's food, I'm gonna go see what I can do about eating," AC told them, smiling at Ollie then making his way out of the room.

"There's plenty," Chloe assured him, watching as he left the room then sitting down on the bed next to Ollie, "how are you feeling?"

"Better now." He grinned at her. "You're much, much nicer to look at than AC."

She leaned in and kissed him softly, smirking a little, "I would hope you'd think so, or we'd have to have a pretty serious talk about your sexual orientation."

"I realize it's been awhile, but hopefully I've never given you reason to question that," he murmured, brushing his nose against hers and kissing her jaw.

Chloe turned her head a little and kissed his cheek, "no, definitely not."

"Oh, good." He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again, turning to see what she'd brought him for dinner.

"We ordered Italian," Chloe told him, picking one of the plates from the tray and setting it on her lap, "that one is yours."

"Smells great," he told her, glancing at her sideways and digging into the plate of food.

She lifted a hand and rubbed his arm a little then started on her own food. She knew he was frustrated and tired of being in bed, so she was doing her best to spend as much time as she could with him, but he was still getting frustrated so she had spoken with Emil and he said that as long as he didn't walk for too long and he laid down instead of sitting, he should be okay to move around some, "maybe we can go outside after dinner, you can lay down on one of the chairs by the pool for a change?"

Oliver quickly turned his head to look at her. "Seriously? I'm being sprung?"

Chloe laughed quietly and nodded, raising her eyebrows, "we have to be careful with the walking, and especially on the stairs and you can't walk a lot, or sit down, you have to lay down. But Emil said you should be okay as long as you don't push too hard and listen to me."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You didn't by chance just add in that 'listen to me' part yourself did you?" he asked with a smirk.

She shook her head innocently, "doctor's orders," Chloe told him, taking another bite of her food.

"Uh huh." His smirk widened a little, and he took another bite, as well.

Chloe pursed her lips together and shrugged at him, she couldn't help but smile at him, she could tell that his mood had already improved, "Mia's graduation is in a couple of weeks." She commented, the two of them had been getting along really well since the mission, and although they usually just talked about Ollie and other things they had in common, she felt like the teenager was actually comfortable around her now.

Oliver nodded a little, considering that for a moment. "I don't suppose she dropped any hints about what she wanted for graduation? Or what she wanted to do for graduation?" he asked hopefully.

"Sorry," she told him with a shake of her head, "but I will see if I can figure it out."

"I asked her a couple of times and she just shrugs it off," he told her, chewing on his lower lip for a moment.

She finished another bite of her food then shrugged a little at him, considering, "maybe she doesn't know what she wants, or maybe she just wants you to be around for it?"

"I will be," he said quietly. "Come hell or high water."

Her face softened and she nodded a little, smiling at him, "I know."

Oliver was silent for a moment, focusing on eating his food and then turning his head to look at her. "It's weird."

"What is?" She asked quietly, placing her plate on the bedside table once she was done.

"How much everything's changed," he admitted.

"What, specifically?" She asked carefully, pursing her lips together.

He considered that for a moment. "Everything. Being back in Star City. The whole team being here. Mia." He paused, meeting her eyes for a moment. "Us."

Chloe watched him for a long moment then nodded slowly, holding his gaze for a moment longer then reaching for his hand, "this is what the plan was, right?" she said quietly, looking down at their hands, "leave Metropolis and all we the bad memories that came with the Watchtower behind and start over here," she looked up at him again and tried for a small smile, "and it would have been like this for a long time if I hadn't been so afraid of letting you in."

Oliver slid his fingers through hers and shook his head. "Don't," he said softly, meeting her eyes again. "That's the past. It's where it should stay."

She took a deep breath and squeezed his hand, nodding a little then leaning forward and pressing her lips softly against his, "I love you," she whispered quietly.

Oliver leaned his forehead against his. "I love you, too," he whispered back, lifting his other hand to her cheek.

Leaning into his touch, she smiled softly at him and took a deep breath, "are you done eating?"

He nodded a little. "Let's go outside." He grinned.

Chloe smiled more at that and took the tray from him, setting it over the vacant chair then turning to him again, "okay, you have to be careful," she told him, pulling the sheets back, "just remember not to bend your stomach or tense the muscles."

He bit back an amused smile as he climbed carefully out of bed, drawing in a breath and letting it out slowly.

She held onto his arm and looked up at him, smiling a little as she could tell he was trying to hide a particular expression, "what?"

"Nothing." He linked his arm through hers.

Chloe held on to his arm and started out of the room slowly, "uh huh."

At her skepticism he couldn't hide the grin anymore, glancing down at her.

"What is it?" She asked again, instinctively looking down at her shirt, "did I get tomato sauce somewhere?"

"No," he said with a soft chuckle. "You were just being all nurse-like and...I have a very good imagination," he informed her with a smirk.

She blinked and paused, raising her eyebrows and smirking back, "well, maybe, if you're a good patient, we can talk about making your fantasies come true when you get better," she told him, lowering her voice to a whisper in case any of the others were upstairs.

His eyebrows rose at that. "Oh, I can be good."

"I'll be the judge of that," she said with a grin, "c'mon."

Oliver grinned back, letting her guide him carefully--and slowly--down the steps and toward the back patio by the pool. He drew in a breath of the fresh air and smiled.

Chloe looked over at him and smiled softly, the sun was setting and it was warm, but not uncomfortably hot, "the smell of freedom?" she teased quietly.

He smiled back at her. "Something like that."

She pressed her lips to his shoulder and nodded a little, "c'mon, you need to lay down."

Oliver slowly moved over to one of the reclining lawn chairs and sat down on it, then laid back, exhaling slowly and letting his eyes close.

Once he was laying down over the padded chair, she pushed another one against it and sat down next to him, "do you need anything else?"

"No, I think I'm good." A soft smile touched his lips.

Chloe smiled at him and shifted closer to him, taking his hand in her and watching him instead of the sunset.

"We should do this part more often," he murmured, rubbing his thumb lightly over the back of her hand.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly, turning on her side to face him, "it's nice to pretend we have normal lives every now and then," she teased.

A smile tugged at his lips and he turned his head to look at her, opening his eyes once more.

She looked back at him and smiled a little back, shifting even closer and brushing her nose against his.

He kissed her softly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. _I want to marry her._

The thought startled him, but what was more startling was that he wasn't as startled as he thought he should be.

Pausing, he opened his eyes to gaze at her again, this time his eyes intense.

Chloe pulled back enough to look at him when he broke the kiss, blinking and frowning slightly at the look on his face, "what's wro--" she stopped when her phone beeped in her skirt's pocket, she never parted with it anymore, in case the informant decided to contact them, so she pulled it out of her pocket and looked up at it.

"What is it?" he asked softly.

She held her breath, her eyes a little wide, "text message, it says: It's time you know. 12 Avenue Louis Garros, 33120 Arcachon," Chloe paused, then finished the address, "France."

Oliver looked back at her, his own eyes wide. "Then I guess we're going to Paris," he murmured.

Chloe took a deep breath and nodded, handing him the phone, "call your pilot, I'll let the others know, we're not going without back-up this time."

He gazed at her a moment longer, and then nodded.

So much for a relaxing evening outside.


End file.
